Sword Art Online: Smashing Red Version
by Red's Pikachu
Summary: Red, a powerful Pokémon Trainer and big videogame geek, was sent into cyberspace to apprehend the last of Team Rocket, but an antivirus sent in by the Pokémon Center caused Red to hurtle into a VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online. How will Red fare being inside an actual computer game? Will contain elements from other Nintendo series. KiritoXSachi, RedXAsuna, Alive!Kuroneko
1. Chapter 1: A New Journey

I have recently watched the anime, Sword Art Online, and love it! Hence, it inspired me to create a crossover fanfiction between Pokémon and Sword Art Online. This fanfic will incorporate elements from other Nintendo franchises such as Fire Emblem. Like _A Pokémon Trainer's Journey in Ylisse_, this story, _Sword Art Online: Smashing Red Version_, will incorporate music track suggestions. I hope you readers enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Nintendo Gamecube and Sword Art Online. Pokemon, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Nintendo Gamecube belong to Nintendo and Sword Art Online belongs to ASCII Media Works.**

**Chapter One: A New Journey**

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**Music track: **_**Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum: Pokemon League (Night)**_

Red was on the route to Pallet Town after exiting the limits of Viridian City. He had had a very long journey exploring the Unova region, capturing and training new Pokemon, and challenging trainers and the Pokemon League. He was a teenager who wore a red baseball cap that covered his dark brown (or borderline black) hair, a red vest with a black t-shirt underneath it, a pair of blue pants, a pair of black wristbands and a pair of black shoes with a red stripe on each shoe. A yellow backpack was strapped behind him and six red and white golfball-sized spheres – Pokeballs – were clipped on his belt at his waist.

It was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, the breeze blew gently, the bird Pokemon Pidgey sang cheerily, and Red was humming a merry tune as he walked through leafy trees and tall green grass of Route 1. Pidgey fluttered about and purple mice-like Rattata scampered around as he walked past with his backpack bustling and bouncing on his back.

Red let out a tired yawn as he hopped down a short ledge. The Pokemon journey, while rewarding, was exhausting. He had opted to walk instead of flying to Pallet Town since he thought that he may not be alert enough to pilot his flight Pokemon. He was looking forward for a warm, satisfying meal from his mother and an evening of videogames and a night of restful sleeping on his warm, comfy bed at his quaint house in Pallet Town.

About twenty minutes later, he finally arrived at the small Town of Pure White Beginnings. The sun had just began to set, giving the sky and clouds a beautiful watercolor of red, orange, yellow and purple. There were not many buildings in the town, only a small number of single houses and a large building Red recognized as the lab belonging to Professor Oak, the lead Pokemon researcher in all of Kanto and a respected one in the world.

Red looked at the town at the top of the hill, with nostalgia. Tears glistened in his eyes, threatening to fall, as the trainer had one thought in his mind: "Home at last…"

He missed being at home.

The red-capped Pokemon trainer charged down the hill, clothes rippling by the slipstream, his backpack slapping against his back as he ran. He did not stop until he finally reached the front white gate of the front yard to his house, lightly panting. The red mailbox that stood next to the gate said "Red's House."

Red, without any hesitation, burst into his home eagerly. The commotion startled his mother, who was about to cook supper. She had black hair and wore a red dress and a white apron. However, upon seeing her only son finally home at last, she could not contain herself and rushed over to hug him. She was overjoyed that he came home and proud that he accomplished so much during his several journeys.

She soon finished making dinner for just the two of them, with Red scarfing down his meal in less than fifteen minutes flat with second helpings; he was starving and enjoyed a home-cooked meal. He spent the rest of dinnertime speaking with his mother, telling her of his journey, while she told him about how Pallet Town was while he was gone.

After the supper, Red retired to his bedroom upstairs. He noticed that it had not changed much since his absence, his bed was still neatly made, though the television set, his personal computer, the desk, and various videogame consoles that were strewn about on the floor had accumulated a small layer of dust. He quickly dusted one of the systems off, a purple and black Nintendo Gamecube, and plugged its cables into the back of the TV and turned the TV and the console on. The melodious orchestral opening of the fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Melee, began to play in its glorious full color glory. Once the start menu appeared he quickly began playing (he briefly considered inviting his old rival, Blue, over to play with him, but decided against it as he figured that Blue may be too busy with his duties as the Gym Leader of Viridian City) until the late of night when his earlier exhaustion caught up with him. With a sleepy yawn, a much-needed warm shower and a fresh change of clothes, he climbed into his bed, and played various handheld games before he was out like a light.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon: Pallet Town**_

The next morning, Red came downstairs fully dressed and refreshed, smelling the scent of bacon and eggs, which were freshly cooked by his mother, wafted through the air. He drooled a little as his stomach rumbled.

"Red," said his mother. "Professor Oak had heard that you had come home; he wants to see you today."

"It's been a while since I last saw him in person," replied Red as he munched on a sunny-side-up. "I'll go see him then after breakfast."

After finishing his meal, Red strolled along the dirt path of Pallet Town. He noticed that not much had changed while he was on his journey as he leisurely walked past Blue's house (which was next door to his). He saw Professor Oak's lab in just a short distance away, easily seen by its large size and the windmill that lazily spun with the breeze.

He walked into the air-conditioned room that was buzzing with the large machines stowed behind several bookshelves inside the lab. There, waiting for him, was none other than Professor Oak. He wore a red collared shirt, a pair of brown khakis, a pair of black shoes, and a large white lab coat. His hair was grey from age.

"Good morning, Red, and welcome back," the elderly man greeted with a warm smile. "How was your journey?"

"It was great, Professor!" replied Red cheerily. "I got so many new Pokemon and won another league!"

"Wow, impressive!" lightly gasped Professor Oak before he chuckled a little. "It only seems like yesterday when you came with Blue so you can get your first Pokemon… Speaking of Pokemon, how's your Pokedex coming along?"

"Why don't you take a look at it yourself?" replied Red as he fished into his backpack and pulled out a small, red handheld device and handed it to Professor Oak. It was old, and had cracks and scrapes all over it.

The Pokemon researcher turned on the Pokedex and read the number of recorded entries, skimming through several of them with widening eyes.

"Well done, Red!" congratulated Professor Oak. "You have seen and caught so many Pokemon – that will certainly help out my research."

Then, the professor picked up a handheld device that looked similar to Red's Pokedex. It was shiny and brand new. After a couple button presses on the device and Red's Pokedex before he handed the new device over to Red.

"Huh? What's this?" asked Red.

"I've noticed that your Pokedex was old and banged up," answered Professor Oak. "I decided to reward your efforts in my research by transferring your data over to a new Pokedex. In other words, you now have a brand-new Pokedex!"

"Wow, it loads everything up fast! Thanks, Professor!"

Just then, the telephone rang. Professor Oak went over to answer it.

"Hello? This is Professor Oak speaking," said the researcher to the telephone receiver. "Oh, hello, Bill! … What's that you say? …You made a program to upgrade the Pokedex with? … Hmm… Red's here right now… Alright, I'll tell him. …Bye!"

He put the phone down and turned to Red.

"Bill wants to see you," said Professor Oak. "He says he has created an upgrade for the Pokedex and wants you to come over to test it out. You know where his house is, right?"

"Yeah," replied Red. "It's over at Cerulean Cape."

"You better get going; Bill sounds excited – I don't think he wants to wait!"

**Music track: **_**Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver: Cerulean City**_

Red rushed out of the lab. He ran back home to tell his mother that he was heading off before he came back out with a Pokeball ready. He threw it into the air.

"Go, Charizard!" he called out.

At once, a large orange dragon materialized in front of Red, roaring out to the sky.

"Charizard," said Red. "Can you fly me over to Cerulean City?"

Charizard snorted as if Red was crazy for even asking before it lowered itself so its trainer can climb on. With that, they took off to the skies to Cerulean City.

After landing at Cerulean City and running over a bridge and through a forest, Red arrived at Bill's house, which was sitting peacefully close to the sea. He knocked on the door.

"Coming!" called out a voice from behind the door, which was soon opened to reveal Bill, who had brown hair and wore a purple collared t-shirt and a pair of brown khakis. He was a Pokemon researcher and Pokemaniac who was famous for creating the Pokemon Storage System for PCs everywhere.

Bill saw that Red had arrived and ushered him in excitedly. The room was similar to Oak's lab; only with fewer machines, a smaller area and papers scattered across the floor with books. Some muttering and metallic clanking can be heard behind one of the large machines.

"Glad that you can come!" the Pokemaniac said eagerly. "You have your Pokedex with you, right?"

"Right!" replied Red as he showed him the red device.

"You've outdone yourself, Red!" said Bill as he scrolled through the entries before he went over to his computer. "You could do well passing yourself off as a Pokemaniac! Now let's see…"

Bill sat down at his computer with Red's Pokedex in hand. With a scan of the Pokedex, some button pressing on the keyboard and some mouse clicks for a couple minutes, he returned the Pokedex to Red.

"Here you go, Red," he declared. "Your Pokedex is now upgraded! Take a look and see if there's anything different! It's off right now since it needs to be rebooted for the upgrade to take effect."

Red turned on the Pokedex and was quickly surprised when it booted up.

"Whoa!" shouted Red. "I can access my PC and my Pokemon storage account through the Pokedex!"

Sure enough, Red tested the update out, swapping various Pokemon and items in and out of his PC and party.

"It really works! Thanks, Bill!" he said.

Suddenly, the telephone rang. Bill went over to answer it.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon: The Enigma**_

"May I help you?" answered the Pokemaniac. "… Yes, this is Bill speaking… What? The Pokemon Transfer System is not working? … You're receiving the wrong Pokemon? … Right, I'll see what's wrong with it… Bye."

He put down the telephone only for it to ring again. He answered it again, only to hear similar messages. After repeating the process a few times, he looked ready to pull his own hair off.

"Red, something's gone wrong with the Pokemon Transfer System," said Bill. "I'm going to head over to the Pokemon Center to see what the problem is."

"I'll come along and see if I can help," replied the trainer as he followed him out of Bill's house.

At the Pokemon Center in Cerulean City, Nurse Joy, the receptionist there, was also similarly stressed out – she was answering phone calls after phone calls, each filled with complaints that Pokemon were not being transferred. Bill consulted with her to see what the matter was.

"A computer virus? Doubtful," said Bill as he left the Pokemon hospital with Red in tow. "I think I may have an idea what may have happened. Let's head back to my house, Red."

Back at Bill's House, the Pokemaniac led Red to where the large machines were. Red can hear the muttering and clanking much more clearly.

"Dr. Akihabara," called Bill. "Did anybody come here?"

A different male's voice rang out. "No, I haven't seen anybody. Let me check the cameras."

From behind the machines, an eccentric scientist stood up. He had dark green hair, an orange collared shirt, a white lab coat and a pair of grey khakis. What stood out the most though was his pair of glasses on that appeared to have a large circular swirl in each lens. He went to a computer to check recorded security footage.

"Who's he?" asked Red, curious.

"Oh, that's Dr. Akihabara," answered Bill. "He's a scientist who has helped me build the Pokemon Transfer System. Nowadays, he's trying to create a machine that can transport people into the virtual world."

"The virtual world? Don't you mean cyberspace?"

"That's right."

"Eh?" started Dr. Akihabara, getting the two's attention. "Who are these people?"

Bill and Red crowded behind Dr. Akihabara, each trying to get a good look at the computer screen over the scientist's head and shoulders. Shown on the computer screen, were three men dress in black clothes. Each of their shirts was adorned with a large, bold red R.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon Black and White: Carrying Out a Mission**_

"It's Team Rocket!" gasped Red. "I thought they have been disbanded!"

"All of us thought so," added Bill. "But what did they do?"

"They must've stolen one of the Porygon I have and transported themselves into cyberspace!" shrieked Dr. Akihabara. "They're trying to steal the Pokemon as they're being transported between Pokemon Centers!"

"What are we going to do?" asked Red.

"We can't use an antivirus program to stop them," replied Dr. Akihabara. "That might accidentally kill the grunts!"

"Are you saying that we…?" started Bill nervously.

"Yes, we need to send in somebody into cyberspace, get those thieves out of there, and get the transport system to work again," finished Dr. Akihabara gravely before he turned to Red.

"Red, is it?" he started. "I need you to go into cyberspace and apprehend those grunts. Can you do it?"

Red thought about his choice. It was a childhood fantasy come true to be able to go into the electronic world. But he was worried.

"What if I get lost… and don't come back…?" he queried nervously.

"Don't worry," reassured Dr. Akihabara. "You basically get turned into a digital program. I can use that status to keep track of you so you don't get lost. And the machine is essentially a much larger version of the machines that transport Pokeballs between Pokemon Centers; they follow practically the same principles!"

"Red," added Bill. "Do you have a Porygon? They can travel through cyberspace, so they may be useful there."

"Good idea, and I have one in my PC. Getting one, let alone three, from the Game Corner was a lot of trouble," replied Red. "Though would the PC not work?"

"The problem only seems to be affecting the Pokemon Centers, plus you're the only Pokedex holder who has that upgrade so far, so you should be fine… and why do you have three Porygon anyways?"

"Oh, I don't know… Porygon have always fascinated me since I'm a big computer geek like you… I just can't help but try and get multiple Porygon. You can't imagine the trouble I have getting them."

Red used his newly upgraded Pokedex to access his Pokemon Storage, got out Porygon's Pokeball and tossed it into the air.

"Go, Porygon!"

In a burst of white light, Porygon materialized. It looked like a rudimentary polygonal computer-generated model of a pink and cyan-colored duck.

"Pory," said the Virtual Pokemon as it floated in the air.

"Red, are you ready to go?" asked Dr. Akihabara seriously.

Red checked his Pokemon party, which was his six main Pokemon plus Porygon, and his bag, which was filled with medicine, food and tools he would need.

"Yes, I'm ready," replied the trainer with a nod.

"Alright, step into the machine and stay still," directed Dr. Akihabara as he began to press some buttons on the keyboard.

Red stepped inside what looked like a large cylindrical glass capsule, which slid shut after he entered, and waited for the transfer to begin. His Porygon followed after him. He stood still and looked calm, though inwardly, he was excited.

Suddenly, laser rays shot down from the ceiling of the capsule, dematerializing Red, starting from his feet. Red took the last opportunity to wave goodbye to Bill and Dr. Akihabara, who both watched and waved back as the trainer and his Porygon began their new journey into cyberspace.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon: Abandoned Ship**_

A silver metallic portal opened in what looked like a black spatial realm with green grid lines. Falling out of it were Red and Porygon. Porygon expanded in size before it flew down to catch Red as he fell.

"Whew, thanks, Porygon," sighed Red before he gasped, taking in the sights.

Though virtual space was dark at first glance, it was brightly lit. Panels of code scrolled through the air. Pictures of mailing envelops zipped back and forth. Brightly colored lines looked like railroad lines on a transit map.

"Wow…" he breathed out, amazed and in awe.

Suddenly a small screen appeared in front of Red. The trainer can see Dr. Akihabara's face on it, swirly-eyed glasses and all.

"Red! Red!" called Dr. Akihabara on the screen. "Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I can hear you, and don't worry, I'm fine," replied Red. "This place looks amazing!"

"Glad to hear that you're enjoying your trip, though enough sightseeing. Here's the location of where the Pokeballs that were being transported are held up."

Another screen opened up next to Akihabara's video chat screen. It looked like a radar map. A red dot on one of the lines was blinking.

"You have to go over to the red dot on the map," explained Dr. Akihabara. "Team Rocket will most likely be there, so be ready to battle."

"Right," affirmed Red. "Let's go, Porygon."

"Pory!" replied the Porygon as it levitated off to its destination.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen: Encounter! Team Rocket**_

At the Pokemon Transfer System line, a row of orange and white construction work fences were erected, prevent any Pokeballs that were being transferred between Pokemon Centers from passing through. The Pokeballs merely gathered up into increasingly giant piles as they stopped at the fence. The black-clad Rocket grunts were busy scooping up the Pokeballs into large brown burlap sacks.

"Heh heh!" laughed one the grunts. "Easy pickings!"

"We're also the first men in cyberspace!" crowed the second, briefly puffing out his chest boastfully. "Going where no man has gone before!"

"This is more than enough to get Team Rocket started up again!" chimed in the third.

"So this is what's that all about?" cut in a new voice.

"Huh?" said the three grunts in chorus before they looked up to see Red on top of a large floating Porygon!

"What?!" shrieked one of the grunts. "How did a Pokemon trainer get here?!"

"Who cares?!" shouted another. "Get rid of him! Go, Arbok!"

**Music track: **_**Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver: Team Rocket Battle**_

A large purple cobra-like Pokemon appeared, ready to fight.

Red disembarked from Porygon and landed on the transfer line.

"Porygon, let's go!" he called as the computer-generated Pokemon floated in from of him, ready to take out the Arbok.

"Arbok, use Gunk Shot!" barked out the grunt.

"Porygon, dodge and use Psyshock!" countered Red.

The Cobra Pokemon obeyed and hurled out large amounts of sickly purple garbage from its jaws at Porygon. The Virtual Pokemon darted to the side and charged up three blue-violet energy orbs in front of its blocky duckbill before firing the orbs at Arbok. The Psychic-type attack slammed into Arbok, dealing super effective damage, knocking it out.

"Grr… Arbok, return," growled the first grunt as he recalled the defeated cobra.

The second grunt stepped up.

"Go, Raticate!" he called out, tossing his Pokeball into the air. "Snap that duck in half with Super Fang!"

A large tan rat with oversized front teeth appeared and charged at Porygon with said front teeth glowing white.

"Porygon, use Conversion 2!" called out Red.

Porygon suddenly changed its skin color to a ghostly pallor, effectively showing that it became a Ghost-type. Raticate's Super Fang did nothing against Porygon; the Rat Pokemon merely sailed through Porygon's body and crashed onto the transfer line.

"Now, follow it up with Ice Beam!" continued Red.

Porygon launched a cyan-blue lightning-like ray from the front of its bill at the Raticate, which was still recovering from the crash on its buck teeth. The Ice Beam landed on Raticate, flash freezing it in a block of ice. The grunt recalled the Raticate in baffled fury. The last grunt stepped up.

"Go, Golbat!" he shouted as he tossed his Pokeball into the air.

A large blue bat with purple leathery wings and gaping wide open mouth materialized into the air, ready to take down Porygon.

"Use Air Slash!" called the grunt.

Golbat began to flap its wings rapidly, forming a large ball of wind before sending it towards Porygon. The Flying-type attack connected, dealing some damage. Porygon's eyes were shut from having them being blasted by the wind.

"Gah!" thought Red, gritting his teeth. "Porygon flinched!"

"Blow it up with Sludge Bomb!" commanded the Rocket grunt.

Golbat began hurling out large purple blobs of smelly sludge at Porygon. Porygon's eyes were still closed.

"Porygon!" called out Red. "Open your eyes! Use Tri Attack!"

At the last second Porygon finally opened its eyes, seeing blobs of sludge heading right for it. It quickly charged up and fired a triple-energy beam from the front of its beak. The blue, red and yellow beams plowed through the Sludge Bombs, stopping them directly, and slammed right into Golbat with a large explosion. Golbat fell out of the air and flopped onto the transfer line, unconscious. The grunt, with gnashing teeth, recalled the Bat Pokemon.

The three Rocket grunts were beyond furious. They began to approach Red with clenching fists and bared teeth, seething in rage. However, Red acted quickly.

"Porygon, use Discharge!" called Red.

Before the grunts could go any further, Porygon flew in front of Red and blasted them with many volts of electricity, shocking them. The grunts fell onto the ground, burnt extra crispy, and with twitching limbs. They were paralyzed.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire: Petalburg Woods**_

Red soon found the Porygon that Team Rocket used to transport them while in cyberspace (it was easy to spot since it had a black flag with a red R tied to its pyramid-like tail). With some Escape rope inside his bag, he tied the barely moving grunts onto the Porygon with the flag and sent them off to the portal to reality. With the criminals apprehended, he got to work, first by emptying the burlap sacks. He and Porygon then began to shunt the construction fences out of the way just as the screen popped up, showing Bill's face, only for Dr. Akihabara to push him out of the way quickly.

"Red! Red!" he screamed frantically. "The Pokemon Center's sent in an antivirus! You better get out of there quickly or else who knows what will happen!"

**Music track: **_**Pokemon Movie 15: Save the Swordsmen**_

Suddenly, what sounded like ambulance sirens rang through the air. What looked like a small white jet with a medical cross symbol hovered through the virtual space.

"Is that…?" gasped Red, pointing to the strange aircraft.

"YES! YES, THAT'S THE ANTIVIRUS!" screeched Dr. Akihabara fearfully. "HURRY BEFORE YOU MIGHT DIE!"

"But what about the –"

"FORGET ABOUT THEM! JUST LEAVE!"

Some clicking sounds came out of the antivirus; it was taking aim on Red, who was in front of the blockage, ready to flee. The antivirus fired a vaccination needle-like missile, which flew straight at the trainer.

Red quickly ran out of the way and climbed onto his Porygon. The missile sailed into the fence, destroying the blockage, allowing the Pokeballs to successfully be transferred to Pokemon Centers at last.

"Quick, Porygon!" he panted. "Let's go to the transfer portal before it's too late!"

Though the Pokemon Transfer System was finally working properly, the white medical capsule still considered Red and his Porygon as a computer virus and immediately opened fire, launching needle missiles. The needles homed in on Porygon.

"Porygon, dodge those missiles!" shouted Red, deciding against attacking the missiles so his ride can save its energy to keep flying.

Porygon kept darting left and right to the best of its ability. Several missiles crashed into each other, others flew off course, and a few connected on the Virtual Pokemon, dealing damage as they exploded on it.

"Porygon, use Recover!" called out Red, hoping that Porygon can take a few more hits without fainting. He could see that Porygon was too tired to fly quickly enough to the portal.

"Pory…" panted Porygon. It was very tired and began to gather energy into its body. Its body began to glow as it regenerated health.

However, at that moment, the antivirus launched a heavy barrage of vaccination missiles upon Porygon. As Porygon tried to heal itself, missile after missile slammed into it, dealing heavy damage. The havoc was too much for Porygon that it began spiral down through cyberspace like a decommissioned airplane, just before it could reach the transfer point. It fell through what happened to be a bug hole that was created by the explosion of the antivirus's missiles.

"Mayday! Mayday!" shouted Red as he clung onto Porygon for dear life. "This looks like the end!"

For Bill and Dr. Akihabara, the video chat screen suddenly showed nothing but black and white static.

"RED!" screamed the two of them. They feared the worst for the trainer and could only hope that Red was still alive in cyberspace.

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What will happen to Red and his Porygon? Find out in the next chapter!

As some of you can tell, this chapter is based off of episode 38 of the first season of the Pokémon anime, Electric Soldier Porygon. That's right: that's the same infamous episode that, on its single airing in 1997, sent over 700 Japanese children to the hospital with seizure-like symptoms due to rapidfire red and blue strobe light animation effects and nearly shut down the whole anime run altogether. The episode was later banned from being aired anywhere (even after receiving edits) by the Japanese government.

I hope you readers enjoyed the chapter. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!


	2. Chapter 2: Party Crasher

Here's chapter 2 of _Sword Art Online: Smashing Red Version_! Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Kirby, Super Smash Bros. and Sword Art Online; Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Kirby and Super Smash Bros. belong to Nintendo and Sword Art Online belongs to ASCII Media Works.**

**Chapter 2: Party Crasher**

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**Music track: **_**Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum: Beginning Dimension (Arceus Appears!)**_

After what felt like hours, Porygon finally managed to stop falling and can finally fly properly. Red fished into his backpack and pulled out a spray bottle – a Hyper Potion – and applied the medicine on Porygon, allowing it to recover. Porygon let out a grateful sigh of relief as it healed from the potion.

Red took a look at the two heads-up displays in front of him. The radar was not showing anything noteworthy other than a blinking white dot, which happened to be representing him and his Porygon, and the video chat screen showed nothing but garbled static.

"Bill? Dr. Akihabara? Hello?" called Red to the chat screen, hoping that at least one of the two can hear him.

But no one answered.

He then looked around the virtual space. Nothing stood out. All he can see were the usual electronic mail messages flying around and binary code scrolling through the realm.

"Hmm…" muttered Red before he looked to Porygon. "We may as well keep moving forward. There's nothing really much to see if we're just gonna float here. Let's just be careful."

They continued their online journey, looking everywhere cautiously. Suddenly, Porygon noticed something.

"Porygon," said the Virtual Pokemon as it began to flick its head at a certain direction.

"What is it, Porygon?" asked Red before he turned to look at the direction Porygon was looking at.

There, before their eyes in the distance, was a bright neon blue portal. Red could not help but stare at it in awe, wonder and curiosity. His curiosity quickly overtook him.

"Porygon," started Red. "Let's try going to that portal. I wonder what's there…"

"Pory," nodded the Porygon before it sailed over towards the blue wormhole. As they passed through the portal they felt themselves as if they were sucked in through a thin drinking straw. Red had to cover his eyes not only because of the slipstream, but also because of blinding white light that enveloped them as they passed through the portal.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Red as he and Porygon flew through to an unknown realm.

**Music track: **_**Sword Art Online: Survive the Swordland**_

Meanwhile, in an online world known as Aincrad within a multiplayer computer game known as Sword Art Online, a great battle was taking place within a dungeon close to a forest.

A group of players was taking on a powerful boss monster known as Illfang the Kobold Lord. Illfang was meters tall, had hulking muscles, had red fur and wielded a large bone axe and metal circular shield. The players wore very basic leather armor and wielded medieval-based weapons, primarily swords.

Most of the players surrounded the monster, landing hits whenever an opening was available while the other players, such as Kirito (a black haired teenaged boy dressed in blue and black) and Asuna (a girl with a red cloak on with a hood that hidden her face), took out Illfang's henchmen, the small armored Ruin Kobold Sentinels.

At last, everyone can see that Illfang's health had fallen very low, prompting the boss to toss away its axe and shield and unsheathe a large cleaver-like sword from behind itself.

Kirito was surprised.

"That's not a talwar from the beta!" he thought frantically. "That's a nodachi!"

Suddenly, what sounded like somebody's scream rang through the air. Appearing right through the dungeon wall in a shower of glass-like pixels came a screaming teenaged boy dressed in red and blue hanging onto the back of what Kirito thought was a large pink and blue polygonal duck. Said duck smashed right into Illfang just as it was about to make its first move, knocking it into the ground. The duck and its passenger also crash-landed on the ground nearby.

The players were shocked beyond words; they were sharing very similar thoughts: "What the hell happened? What's that duck thing? Who's that boy? Where did he come from? How did he get here?"

Kirito took a look at Red (who was busy healing up his Porygon with another potion) and his eyes widened.

"Where is his cursor?" he wondered. "Is he a player or an NPC?"

For Red, he was very confused and curious.

"Where am I…?" he thought to himself before he saw Illfang. "Whoa! That's a large monster! I wonder if Pokemon attacks can work on it!"

Then, he noticed health bars hovering close to the monster's head.

"Wait! Are those…?" he wondered before he realized it. "It looks like I'm in a video game!

As Illfang struggled to get up after being rammed by a high speed Porygon, Red plucked off one of his six Pokeballs from his belt, hoping that his gambit will work. He tossed the Pokeball into the air.

"Pikachu, I choose you!" he called.

A small yellow mouse-like Pokemon materialized in front of Red. Upon seeing Illfang, Pikachu tensed for battle with red cheek pouches crackling with electricity. The players nearby watched, still trying to make sense of what just happened.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon: Raid!**_

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he shouted.

"Pika… ka… CHUUUUUUU!" screamed Pikachu as it jumped up into the air, tensed up and fired a powerful yellow lightning bolt from its body at Illfang, shocking it. Illfang roared in pain before it turned to see Red, Pikachu and Porygon; if looks could kill, the three would be dead. Illfang began to run straight for them!

"AHHH!" screamed Red as he and his two Pokemon quickly turned tail before he managed to grab and climb onto Porygon (with Pikachu quickly jumping on after him), trying to escape the wrath of Illfang. However, Illfang was quickly catching up, trying to cut them out of the air using its giant long cleaver.

"Porygon –whoa!" started Red as he ducked from one of Illfang's sword swings. "Hit it with Signal Beam!"

Porygon quickly turned itself around and fired a sinister violet ray of light from the front of its beak. The Bug-type attack slammed into Illfang's face, dealing some damage. Red soon noticed that Illfang was lurching around wildly like a drunkard, swinging its nodachi around randomly.

"Yes! It's confused!" he thought before he heard rapid footsteps from down below. "Huh?"

On the ground, Kirito also heard the footsteps – he turned to see that a player with brown armor and blue hair was rushing towards the confused monster with his sword ready.

"What's Diabel trying to do…?" thought Kirito as he furrowed his brow, puzzled. "We were supposed to surround it with the entire group."

Then as he could see that a small smirk had adorned Diabel's face as the player charged at Illfang. Diabel stopped so he can ready a sword attack.

"Whoa… it is like a video game!" thought Red as he watched Diabel charge once more, ready to land a hit on Illfang.

Then, out of the blue, one of Illfang's wild sword swings sliced right into Diabel's body hard, catching said player by surprise. Red can see that instead of blood flying about, there was a large glowing red gash on Diabel's chest with some glass like pixels flying off of him. Diabel screamed in pain as he crashed onto the ground, unmoving. Red can see that Diabel's health bar was decreasing rapidly.

"DIABEL!" screamed one of the players.

**No music track**

Kirito rushed over Diabel and pulled out a vial of potion and supported Diabel's head so he can drink it.

"Why did you try to do it alone?" questioned Kirito to Diabel as he held the medicine.

"You were… a beta tester… weren't you?" asked Diabel back as he pushed the medicine away, refusing it; he was having difficulty breathing, let alone talking. "You know what I was doing…"

Kirito gasped when he realized Diabel's intentions. "You were after the 'last attack bonus rare item.' You were a beta tester, too?"

Diabel cringed; whether it was from pain or for being found out, no one knows for sure.

"Please…" he breathed shallowly. "Defeat… Defeat the boss… for everyone…"

Diabel's body began to glow before it shattered into many tiny pixel shards. Red saw what happened to him. The players watched with bated breath; they truly knew what had happened.

"Did he just…?" Red hoped that it was not what he was thinking of until he heard a loud roar reverberate across the boss room. There was Illfang, now staring all of the players down with a thrist of blood and carnage.

Illfang had snapped out of its confusion!

**Music track: **_**Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Fire Emblem Theme**_

Kirito and Asuna stepped up and charged together at Illfang. Illfang charged in kind after batting off a few players who were nearby to it. Illfang quickly swung its nodachi at Kirito, but the player quickly blocked it with his sword; the clashing force from the stalemate sent both of them reeling back. Asuna seized the opportunity to land a stab attack using her slender rapier. Suddenly, the monster swung its sword downward. Asuna barely evaded the slash in time, but the attack shredded her red cloak to pieces, revealing her white top, red skirt and her beautiful brown hair.

Red seized his chance to help out the players.

"Pikachu, Thunder Wave! Porygon, Ice Beam at its feet!" he commanded.

A jolt of electricity from the Electric-type Pokemon stopped Illfang cold, while the Virtual Pokemon's freeze ray shot down right towards the same monster's feet, freezing it solid and to the floor.

"Whoa!" thought Kirito as he watched Illfang struggle in vain to free its feet from the ice. "That guy and his creatures are helping us! The fight's gotten a bit easier with the boss monster unable to move!"

Quickly, Kirito and Asuna charged at the boss monster, trying to land as many hits as possible before it could finally break free from the ice. While the monster did try to hit them with its nodachi, the two players were too close for it to take proper aim, so it decided to attack Red, who was flying on top of his Porygon mount, having Pikachu and said Porygon pepper the monster with their Pokemon attacks. At last, Kirito, with a loud battle cry, landed a powerful slash attack through Illfang's body, which proved to be the final blow. The monster roared one last time before it glowed and shattered into thousands of pixel shards. The boss monster was defeated.

The room was silent for several seconds; the players were registering what just took place.

**Music track: **_**Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Results Display Screen**_

"W-we did it!" shouted one of the players. Suddenly, all of the other players began cheering loudly, celebrating their hard fought victory.

To Red's surprise, a "Congratulations!" message appeared out of thin air for all of the players to see. The Pokemon trainer can see little white windows, which he assumed to be the smaller version of the congratulations message, popped up in front of each player. The players were looking at their experience gain and their loot from the successful monster kill.

Meanwhile, Kirito, panting heavily, looked at his message and saw that he got the "last attacking bonus." His reward was a Coat of Midnight item.

"Good work," said Asuna as she walked up to him.

"That was splendid swordsmanship," added a muscular, dark-skinned player named Agil. "Congratulations, this victory belongs to you."

"No," panted Kirito, turning to Red and Porygon (Pikachu was just recalled by Red). "That guy with those creatures of his certainly made the fight a lot easier."

The Pokemon trainer merely scratched his head, wondering what he should do next. As far as he knew, he was stranded in whatever online game he was in. Kirito, Asuna and Agil walked up to him.

"Thank you," said Kirito gratefully to Red. "You are a great help to us."

"Um… no problem," said Red as he rubbed the back of his head, still confused. "Glad I could help. But where am I?"

Kirito, Asuna and Agil were shocked upon hearing Red's question. However, they quickly remembered how Red and Porygon made their entrance and wondered what that was about. Suddenly, a video chat screen popped up in front of Red, revealing Dr. Akihabara's bespectacled face.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Legend of Ninetales**_

"Red!" shouted the swirly-eyed scientist. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, never better," replied Red. "Though right now, it looks like I'm in some sort of online game."

"You are in an online game," affirmed Agil. "You're in a VRMMORPG known as Sword Art Online."

"A virtual reality massively multiplayer online roleplaying game?!" shouted Red, surprised. "The place looked so real…"

"Red," said Bill as he butted Dr. Akihabara out of the way on the video screen. "I've done some research on Sword Art Online. It's a VRMMORPG that was released in Japan a couple months ago. While it's supposed to be the hottest videogame around after selling out quickly, it's actually a videogamer's worst nightmare: players who had logged in there cannot log out. I've seen in the coding of the game that the players can only be freed by clearing the game and that death in game equals death in real life. Based on the news I've read about the game, over two thousand players have already died because of the game. "

Bill's explanation made Red's blood turn cold.

"So… is there another way you can get us out of here?" asked Red hopefully.

"Hmm… the security's rather tight on the code so for now, I'm stuck," replied Bill. "The best I can do is to try and help not get you killed in the game. Let me prepare something for you, so sit tight for now."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later."

The video screen disappeared from view.

"Who were those two just now?" asked Asuna.

"Oh, those two were Bill and Dr. Akihabara," replied Red. "They sent me into cyberspace from the real world to stop some criminals. However, after catching them, an accident caused me to wound up here."

"So you didn't use the NerveGear?" asked Kirito.

"What's NerveGear?" was Red's response.

"It's how we players logged into this game," explained Kirito. "It's a helmet each player wears in the real world to log themselves in."

"How does that even work?!"

"The helmet has transceivers that intercept body signals between the body and the brain. Our bodies in the real world are comatose while our minds are in here."

"Wow…"

"So, how did you get into cyberspace?" asked Asuna, who was interested in the conversation.

Red went on to explain the Pokemon Transfer System from his homeland. The three players around him listened, fascinated.

"You mentioned the term 'Pokemon' several times," said Agil once Red was finished. "What is it?"

"From where I'm from," started Red. "Pokemon are creatures with many special abilities. They look like animals, plants and many other forms."

"So, is that…?" asked Kirito, pointing to the Porygon.

"Yes, that's a Pokemon, a Porygon to be specific. There are over six hundred species of Pokemon known so far with many more yet to be discovered. Porygon is only one such specie of Pokemon, nicknamed as the 'Virtual Pokemon.'"

"Why does it have nickname?"

Red fished out his Pokedex from his bag and pointed it at his Porygon.

"Porygon, the Virtual Pokemon," beeped the Pokedex in a computerized voice. "A Normal-type. It is a manmade Pokemon made entirely out of programming code. It is capable of traveling through cyberspace."

Red then went on, talking more about Pokemon and Pokemon trainers. The three players listened with rapt attention. Suddenly, amongst the cheers and the excited and relieved chattering of the other players, a yell of "WHY?" rang through the air, silencing them all. Everyone turned to look at a sulking male player with spiky brown hair. The player was glaring at Kirito.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Planet's Paralysis**_

"Why… did you let Diabel die?" he demanded angrily.

"Let him die?" parroted Kirito.

The player became even angrier. "Of course! You knew that technique the boss used! If you'd told us that up front, he wouldn't have died!"

"Was that what happened to that blue-haired guy?" Red mentally gasped to himself.

The players grew suspicious and began to mutter to themselves.

"He must be one of the beta testers!" accused one of the players. "That's how he knew all of the boss's attack patterns! He knew, but he didn't tell us!"

"Other beta testers are here, too, right?" shouted another player. "Come out!"

The players all muttered amongst themselves again, trying to weed out the beta testers. Kirito began to laugh mirthlessly, drawing the attention of the players.

"A beta tester?" mocked Kirito. "I wish you wouldn't compare me to those newbies."

"W-what?!" shouted a player.

"Most of the thousand beta testers were beginners who didn't even know how to level up. You guys are better than they are… But I'm not like them – I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test. The reason I knew the boss's skills is because I fought monsters with katana skills on floors far above us. I know a lot more – way more than any information broker."

The players were stunned but soon got angry very quickly.

"That's way worse than a beta tester!" screamed the spiky-haired player. "You're cheating! A cheater!"

"Yeah, a cheater!" agreed several of the players as they began to angrily ramble amongst themselves again. "

"A beta tester and a cheater…"

"A beater!"

Kirito smirked before he put on the Coat of Midnight item reward, which took the form of a large black trenchcoat. The other players silently fumed at his seemingly arrogant display.

"Then what does that make that guy over there?!" called out a player, pointing at Red.

"He came out of nowhere! Right through the walls!"

"He has those weird creatures with him!"

"I call hax! He's a cheat!"

"He's a hacker!"

"Hacker!"

Kirito walked up to Red.

**Music track: **_**Fire Emblem Awakening: Prelude**_

"I forgot; we haven't introduced ourselves yet," said Kirito. "I'm Kirito. Nice to meet you."

"Red," said the Pokemon trainer. "Likewise."

"Wait," said Asuna to Kirito. "You called my name when we were fighting."

"Sorry for using your first name… or did I mess up the pronunciation?"

"Where did you learn it?"

"You can see another HP gauge below yours, around here, right?" queried Kirito, gesturing to a spot in the air. "Isn't something written right next to it?"

Asuna looked and saw her and Kirito's HP bars. "Kirito… Kirito? Is that your name?"

"Yeah," confirmed the player.

"Oh, it's been there all this time!"

Asuna turned to Red and saw no HP gauge and cursor over his head but went over to him. They also introduced themselves. Suddenly, the video chat screen popped up in front of Red again, showing Bill.

"Red," he said. "I've managed to get the code that identifies you as a player. Try opening up the main menu."

Red looked to Asuna, confused. Asuna, with a gesture of her finger, opened her menu up. Red understood and copied her.

"Okay, Red," said Bill. "Now you're a full-fledged player of Sword Art Online. You can use the menu to do things like check your inventory and your skill levels and such. I've also added the video chat screen in the interface so you can call us if you're having problems or just want to talk. Speaking of skills, why don't you check your skills set? You've got a surprise."

Red, with some help from Asuna and Kirito, managed to open up the skills menu, showing him the list of skill he had available. There were several basic sword skills shown but as he scrolled down the list, Red saw some skills that caught his widening eyes.

"'Aether…' 'Mach Tornado…' 'Dual Guard…'" muttered Red as he read the list. "I know those! They're from other games like Fire Emblem!"

"That's right!" laughed Bill. "I figured you'd recognize them since you're a big videogame fan, hence, why I've coded them. Now, check out the inventory."

With Asuna and Kirito (both were watching with interest) helping him again, Red opened up his inventory, which was separate from his backpack. Just like with the skills list, Red's eyes widened again.

"Whoa, same with the weapons!" he exclaimed, surprised. "'Galaxia…' 'Ragnell…'"

"Well, you are in Sword Art Online, so it's good to have some weapons to protect yourself with, right?"

Red selected "Galaxia" on the inventory screen and much to his amazement, a spiked golden shortsword appeared his hand.

"Whoa… it feels so real too!" he said as he weighed it in his hand before he took some practice swings with it.

"I've even coded in some form of armor… or costume into the inventory," added Bill, enjoying Red's reactions. "It helps to not stand out sometimes."

Red scrolled through the inventory screen and saw the item. "'Prince's Costume…'"

"Try it on," prompted Bill.

Red tapped the "Prince's Costume" item on the inventory screen and all of a sudden, Red's clothes changed. In place of his traveling clothes, there were red clothes that looked as if it had belonged to a medieval prince; the costume came complete with a sheath for a sword and a regal cape that was red on one side and yellow on the other. His upper body was protected by a bright red breastplate and shoulder armor that were decorated with golden trims.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho!" laughed Red excitedly as he twirled himself around so he can fully admire his new clothes. "I look like Roy from Fire Emblem! …Just dressed in red and yellow instead of blue and white."

Asuna could not help but blush slightly when she saw Red in his new costume; he looked very handsome to her. Fortunately for her, Red did not see her blushing at him.

Red then saw that his six Pokeballs were still at his belt at his waist and that his yellow backpack was gone.

"Bill, where did my backpack go?" he asked to the screen.

"I've made a separate interface for it. You should see the item 'Bag' in the inventory screen," replied the Pokemaniac.

Red scrolled through the inventory list and saw "Bag" under the item "Casual Clothes" (which he guessed was his original clothes) and selected it. A three-dimensional image of his yellow backpack appeared and another menu popped up. Red scrolled through the list of items shown in the 'Bag' menu and was satisfied to see that all of his unused items that he brought with him to cyberspace were there.

"Convenient… though I'll miss having the bag and hat on," he said, scratching his head somewhat sheepishly. "Anyways, now I need to figure out how to get used to this game."

"Hmm… since the game is a virtual reality and is supposed to use your five senses, it's something to experience, I guess," replied Bill thoughtfully. "Maybe try asking the players for help."

Red turned to Kirito and Asuna, only to see that the former was busy with his player interface. Kirito was disbanding his party, leaving himself and Asuna without a party.

"You'll be really strong," started Kirito to Asuna. "So if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down. There's a big limit to what you can do as a solo player."

Kirito then turned and head up the stone stairway, heading to the next floor.

Red felt very lost; after seeing the boss battle and hearing Bill's explanation about the game and Kirito's parting message, he was starting to worry that he may not survive long enough to escape cyberspace. However, he was surprised to see a message window pop up in front of him. It was a party invitation from Asuna. He looked to see Asuna and saw that she was willing to accept him as a party member so he selected "Yes" and joined her party. For Asuna, she saw a second HP bar appear under hers with Red's name right next to it. The female player giggled slightly when she saw his name because her new party member was named after a primary color.

Asuna and Red, two new party members and comrades in arms then set off to the second floor, with Porygon floating after its trainer. For Red, his newest adventure had truly begun!

* * *

I've updated my profile for info regarding my 2 stories that are WIPs: this one and _A Pokémon Trainer's Journey in Ylisse_.

Red's SAO costume is essentially Roy's red costume from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Red's weapons, moves and skills in SAO are from other games, namely Super Smash Brothers, Fire Emblem, Legend of Zelda and Kirby. (This fanfic is called _Sword Art Online: Smashing Red Version_ for a reason!)

Once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome!


	3. Chapter 3: Living and Learning

Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites!

**Disclaimer: Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Kirby, Legend of Zelda and Super Smash Bros. belong to Nintendo and Sword Art Online belongs to ASCII Media Works. I do not own any of the franchises.**

**Chapter 3: Living and Learning**

* * *

**Music track: **_**Fire Emblem Awakening: Conquest (Ablaze)**_

Red and Asuna soon got along together. Red was quickly adjusting to the game, Sword Art Online, but he had much to learn if he want to help free the thousands of players trapped in the VRMMORPG. He was more used to giving out commands to his Pokemon team members during battles; he himself rarely fought before. Because Red could not always rely on Pokemon all of the time, Asuna had to teach him how to fight and defend himself. Presently, the two party members were out in a grassy and rocky field, facing down what looked like large ox monsters. Red's Porygon floated about, watching them.

"In combat, you need to use Sword Skills in order to damage and defeat monsters. They are also used in duels and boss monster fights," stated Asuna as she charged and killed one of the oxes with a fast stab attack – a Linear – from her rapier.

"Whoa… were you guys using your Sword Skills on that boss monster earlier?" queried Red.

"Of course, though many skills are restricted to different weapon types."

"So, how do I pull one off?"

"Initial motion input is needed before activating a sword skill; if you do the starting motions correctly and activate a sword skill, the system will make sure the attack hits. Just build it up and let go!"

"Oh… I see…"

Red turned to face the ox in front of him, readying the Galaxia he held in his hand. The hellhound charged at him and Red threw a diagonal slash with his sword, but the damage was negligible and Red got tackled away by the ox, taking some damage.

"Oof!" grunted Red as he flopped onto his back on the ground. "Where… did I go wrong?"

"You didn't activate a sword skill that time," explained Asuna as she watched him recover, giggling a little; to her, it was funny seeing a person dressed as a regal prince get knocked over by a relatively low-level monster.

Red faced the hellhound again. This time, he imagined himself performing a basic diagonal slash attack on the bovine and charged. The slash attack connected, leaving a virtual gash on the monster, dealing damage.

"Yes! Did you see that?!" laughed Red, exhilarated.

"Yes, yes, I did see that you performed a Slant," replied a smiling Asuna. "The monster's not dead yet though. Finish it off!"

Red decided to try using one of the skills Bill had coded for him earlier. He quickly pictured himself performing the attack and tensed up in excited anticipation. The NPC charged again and Red crossed his sword wielding arm over his chest, readying his attack. Suddenly, Red shot off like a mighty rocket; he zoomed to the front of the monster and swung the Galaxia hard.

"'Quick Draw,'" he thought as the attack connected, bisecting the beast with a harsh horizontal sword slash, killing it. Red nearly fell over as he stopped his own momentum. The monster glowed white before it shattered into polygonal pixels.

A white message box popped up in front of Red. It was a results screen for killing the monster, showing him his gained loot and experience points.

"Woohoo!" laughed Red. "My first unassisted kill!"

"You learn fast!" smiled Asuna, as she remembered the number of times Red had to call on Porygon or one of his Pokemon to attack the monsters, before she took a closer look at the results screen. "EH?! How are you getting that many experience points from that monster?! It looks like double the regular amount!"

Red wondered about it as well before he opened up his main menu and searched the skills list. There, he found the cause for his doubled experience gain. It was one of the several skills Bill had coded in for him.

"'Paragon,'" he read out loud. "'Doubles experience gained through combat.'"

"Any player would love to have a skill like that," said Asuna, who was understandably a little envious, but was glad to see that Red had a way to catch up to her in terms of level; she had noticed that Red was at a very low level.

"Hmm… what's Col?"

"That's money in Sword Art Online."

"Aww… I need to kill a lot of these guys just to get a lot of cash!" whined Red comically as he bent over in an exaggerated manner as if he were exhausted, provoking Asuna into giggling again. "I hate grinding!"

Red spent the next several minutes killing monsters, raking in loot and experience points and leveling himself up, increasing his stats with each level up. Asuna, who was watching him while killing the occasional monster that approached her, saw the stat increases and was surprised before Red told her about another skill that Bill had coded in for him, known as "Aptitude" (which raised the probability of increases for each stat during a level up).

"Now, let's talk about combat when in a party," prompted Asuna after Red had leveled up once again.

"Um… doesn't it just involve ganging up on a monster?" asked Red, remembering the somewhat disorganized state of the players when they fought Illfang the Kobold Lord on the previous floor.

"It's a bit more than that. Players in a party can perform what is known as a 'Switch.'"

"'Switch?'"

"Basically, a player leading the attack can switch with a fellow party member while the monster is having a cool down after it attacks. This allows an additional attack coming from the second player to hit a monster."

"I see… so one player can recover briefly while the other strikes! I can see why a lot of those players are grouped up together."

"Exactly. It's more efficient now that I realize it too from what Kirito said about solo players. Let's try fighting a monster as a party."

The field was empty so instead of waiting for the NPCs to respawn, Asuna led Red to a different part of the grassy field where more of the cattle-type enemies were. Asuna charged at one of the monsters, stabbing it with a Linear.

"Switch!" she called out as she leapt back.

"Take this!" shouted Red as he charged past her and finished off the monster with a Vertical slash attack. "Wow, that went by fast! I think I'm getting the hang of this."

"We certainly make a good team!" beamed Asuna.

Suddenly, a monster ran straight for Asuna while she was talking to Red. Red saw the monster and quickly jumped in front of her, lightly shoving her out of the way, and blocked the attack with his sword.

"Back off," grunted Red as he shunted the monster back, leaving himself and Asuna unharmed. The words "NO DAMAGE" appeared above Red's head for a moment before it disappeared.

"Thanks," said Asuna as she killed off the monster. "I didn't see that coming… though why did the words 'no damage' appear above your head when you blocked the attack?"

Red realized what she was talking about and opened up his skills list from the main menu and showed her one of the skills.

"'Dual Guard,'" read Asuna. "'Allows a supporting player to protect nearby allies. Attacks blocked by a Dual Guard will do no damage.'"

"It's definitely an awesome skill that Bill ripped from Fire Emblem," said Red. "I certainly wouldn't let a fellow party member die on me in this Fire Emblem wannabe!"

Asuna blushed lightly at Red's proclamation and as she turned away, she noticed that the sun had begun to set. They then set off to the next town to rest.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pokemon Square**_

Four months passed. Red and Asuna, now allies and good friends, had trained hard and became powerful players (when compared to the average player). Of course, Red did not neglect to train his Pokemon, rotating his team members every so often and expressing his pride as one of Kanto's most powerful Pokemon trainers.

In the Kanto region, Bill and Dr. Akihabara were kept busy after the Team Rocket grunts were arrested by the police; they were trying to figure out how to bring Red back home safely (once Sword Art Online was cleared) while making sure he was alive and well. They also coded a lot, giving the trainer in cyberspace some new skills and weapons as well as fixed some bugs and glitches.

In Sword Art Online, Red and Asuna became relatively well known by other players; the players had given Asuna the nickname the "Flash" because of her high precision speed attacks during combat, while Red was dubbed as the "Blazing Sword" because of his having some combat and sword skills that involve fire. Red was also sometimes called the "Monster Tamer" because of his team of Pokemon he trained and commanded; the Pokemon he had were much stronger than the familiars that normal players can befriend and use during combat. However, there were still players who called Red a "Hacker" for having possessions and skills not normally available in Sword Art Online.

Several guilds had tried to recruit Asuna and Red, but the duo did not trust the players in the guilds. Many of the male players ogled Asuna while several female players approached a rather oblivious Red, much to Asuna's annoyance. Many players also only wanted to recruit half of the duo (typically they wanted to recruit only Asuna; they did not want to associate with a "Hacker") only to see that Asuna and Red were practically inseparable. Many players also tried to get Red to trade over some of his weapons or items and information brokers queried often about the skills Red had in his arsenal thanks to Bill as well as the Pokemon he had; the persistent inquiries left Red very uncomfortable. Those occurrences often resulted in duels that combined a male's strength with a lady's wrath. The players would then back off from Red and Asuna… for a short period of time, that is.

"I'd swear, but Gamefreak wouldn't let me," snorted Red as he and Asuna (Porygon took shelter inside Red's Pokedex) walked into an alehouse at a town on the eleventh floor. "The players really need to stop annoying us."

"It doesn't exactly help that you stand out like a beacon because of your prince costume," replied Asuna teasingly.

"So says the 'Flash.' Everybody had their eyes on you just so they see you when you zoom off like a Pikachu using Quick Attack!"

"And I'm sure the girls around you want one of your other swords rather than your 'Blazing Sword!'"

Red did not catch the double meaning but did note her tone.

"Is somebody jealous?" he asked, just as teasingly. "After all, the Sword of Seals and the Ragnell rock!"

"No, I'm not, you moron!" she cried out in mock anger before she punched him in the shoulder. She was blushing rather heavily.

"Let's raise our cups to our guild, Black Cats of the Night!" shouted a voice nearby.

Red (who was rubbing his shoulder from being punched by his partner) and Asuna turned to look for the voice's owner. It came from one of the nearby tables in the tavern.

"Cheers!" shouted all (but one) of the occupants at the table as they clinked their drinking glasses.

The occupant who was not cheering, the duo noticed, was none other than Kirito, who still had his black Coat of Midnight on and was sitting at the table rather awkwardly, holding his own glass.

"And a toast to the man we owe our lives to, Kirito!" continued the same speaker, prompting his other tablemates to raise their glasses once more.

"Cheers!" responded the guild members.

"Ch-cheers," said Kirito awkwardly as he held up his glass as well.

As the guild thanked him, Kirito noticed Asuna and Red and called them over.

"Kirito, who are your new friends?" asked Red.

"Oh, I met them while in the dungeon back at the tenth floor," replied the black-haired swordsman. "They're a guild, the Black Cats of the Full Moon."

"Did you join them?" asked Asuna. "I thought that you'd go solo still."

"Not yet, though they're a nice group," replied Kirito as he introduced the guild members.

The guild, the Black Cats of the Full Moon, consisted of five members. Keita, their leader, wore maroon clothes that matched his hair and silver armor. Tetsuo, who had brown hair, wore purple clothes and silver armor. Sasamaru, who had wavy brown hair, wore green clothes and silver armor. Ducker stood out as he had a grey cap over his blonde hair and wore a mustard-colored cloak over his yellow clothes and silver armor. And finally, the sole female member of the guild, Sachi, had dark blue hair and wore a light blue dress with a dark blue breastplate. Red thought that Sachi could pass off as a Pegasus knight from Fire Emblem, especially if she were to wield a spear or lance. Keita turned to Kirito.

"Um, Kirito," he prompted. "I know it's rude of me to ask, but what level are you?"

"Level twenty or so," replied Kirito hesitantly; he was lying as he was really level forty.

"That's about the same as us. I can't believe you're running solo!"

"No need to be so polite, Keita. I may be a solo player, but I only go after lone enemies – it's not very efficient."

"Oh, okay," said Keita before he turned to Red and Asuna. "What level are you two?"

The duo told them their levels, which were much higher than their levels and Kirito's supposed level. The guild was impressed while Kirito was impressed that Red managed to level up very quickly.

"Hey, I'm asking this out of the blue," started Keita to Kirito, Red and Asuna. "But why don't you join our guild?"

The three only looked at one another, unsure of what to do.

"The only player we can handle being forward is Tetsuo, a mace wielder," Keita explained before he began patting Sachi's head. "And I was thinking of having Sachi switch over to a one-handed sword and shield build, so she could be a forward, too… it doesn't look like she's got the feel of it yet, though. I was wondering if you guys could coach her."

"Geez… Why are you treating me like I'm useless?" pouted Sachi as she backed away from Keita's hand. "Anyway, it'd be too scary if you made me fight close-range all of a sudden."

"You can always hide behind your shield!" laughed Ducker.

"I swear, you've always been such a scaredy-cat," added Tetsuo, also chuckling.

Sachi groaned as the others continued laughing.

"Well, everybody in this guild is part of our school's computer club in the real world," said Keita to Kirito, Red and Asuna. "But don't worry; I'm sure you three will fit in with us in no time. Right?"

"Yeah," replied the four other guild members in unison.

Kirito thought for several seconds before he answered. "Okay. I guess I'm in. Glad to be here."

Red and Asuna consulted with each other.

"What should we do?" asked Red. "After all, we did pretty much reject every single guild before coming here."

"Hmm…" pondered Asuna before a thought occurred to her. "Why not hang around with them for a little before we decide?"

"Sounds good – we already knew Kirito and the folks seem nice. Plus, the Beater and the Hacker should stick together, heh heh!"

"Plus," thought Asuna to herself as she remembered the past four months, blushing slightly. "I'm used to just traveling with only you, Red."

The two turned to Keita and told him their plan. Keita was satisfied with their answer and welcomed them. Then, the duo and the now six-member Black Cats of the Full Moon guild chattered happily over ale into the night.

**Music track: **_**Super Smash Bros.: Target Test**_

A month later, at the twentieth floor, the group can now be seen in a lush green forest, facing off against what looked like a giant praying mantis monster. Sachi, now armed with a sword and shield, nervously stepped up to face it in battle.

The overgrown insect roared, exposing its sharp triangular teeth and hurling dark green saliva from its wide maw, scaring Sachi into trying to hide behind her wooden shield. The mantis raised one of its scythes and sent it downwards at Sachi, who quickly raised her shield to cover her face with it, blocking the scythe. Sasamaru jabbed at the monster with his spear, trying to keep it at bay.

"Sachi, fall back!" called out Kirito as he charged at the mantis quickly severed one of its scythes with his blade. The blade arm shattered into polygonal pixels. He began parrying the other scythe away as Sachi nervously backed off. "Tetsuo, switch!"

"Okay!" responded the forward as he, with a battle cry, rushed at the mantis and slammed his metal warhammer into its narrow thorax, killing it, shattering it into glass-like polygons.

A results message box appeared in front of Tetsuo, showing his experience gain and loot. A "Congratulation!" message popped up as well as Tetsuo had leveled up. He had become level twenty three.

"SCORE!" whooped Tetsuo happily as he read the message boxes. Ducker, Keita and Sasamaru came up to congratulate him while Kirito and Sachi watched. The latter pair then turned to see Red and Asuna take down another praying mantis monster.

Asuna charged at it and threw out multiple rapidfire thrust attacks at the thorax with her rapier. Suddenly, Red shoved her out of the way and parried away the mantis's scythe (the words "NO DAMAGE" appeared over his head as he did so) with his lightly curved katana, a Killing Edge. The scythe attack from the mantis would have hit Asuna if Red had not blocked it for her.

"Switch!" prompted Asuna before she retreated behind him.

Red, who was already in front of the monster, held out his katana behind him before he jumped up into the air, bringing the katana in front then over his head with both of his hands as he did so. As he began to fall, he brought his blade down in front of him, performing a Final Cutter. The blade bisected the monster's head as Red fell. When Red landed on the ground hard, the blade left the mantis's body and also slammed onto the ground hard, creating a shockwave that cut through the giant insect's abdomen, ripping it in half. The monster's halves fell away from each other before they shattered into pixelated smithereens.

"Whoa…" breathed out Kirito as he watched the two work together before looking at Sachi, who was also similarly in awe of their teamwork and skills.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum: Route 210 (Day)**_

Later, everyone was resting on a grassy terrace, enjoying a small picnic lunch. Keita was lying down on his back, reading the newspaper over his head. The paper was called the Weekly Argo, telling about news that took place in Sword Art Online.

"So the front-liners cleared the twenty-eighth floor?" he said as he read the paper, which had "Front-liners Clear the Twenty-eighth Floor! Once Again, Zero Casualties!" as its headlines in large, bold black letters. "That's amazing."

He turned to Kirito, who was sitting next to him on the grass. "Say, Kirito, what makes the front-liners so different from us?"

"Probably all of the info they've amassed," answered Kirito. "They know how to accumulate experience more efficiently but keep it all to themselves."

"Yeah, I can see that," said Keita as he laid his arms onto the grass before folding them over his chest. "I think it's willpower though."

"Willpower?" asked Red as he and Asuna came up and sat down on the grass with them.

"I guess it's more like the will to protect your allies – no, every player here," clarified Keita. "We're the ones being protected right now, but our feelings are just as strong as theirs. Of course, ensuring the safety of our comrades comes first, but I still want to join the front-liners someday."

"Yeah, I get it," said Kirito.

"'Willpower,' huh?" thought Red as he also understood; he remembered his Pokemon journeys back in the real world – they were long, sometimes strenuous and occasionally dangerous but he, with his team of Pokemon, persevered to be amongst the best of trainers. "Perhaps it would – no, will be willpower that will help me through being in this game… and protect my new friends."

Asuna only looked at Red admiringly. While they tease each other a lot, she could not have felt any happier having a steadfast and powerful partner in a realistic yet fantastic death game. She also felt somewhat envious of the amount of freedom he had before he arrived to Sword Art Online (Red had told her stories of his Pokemon adventures during the past five months); she wished that she could travel with him once they can leave the game alive.

"'Sup, leader?" said Ducker as he came down from the terrace and pulled Keita into a headlock. "That was so cool!"

"Hey!" called out Keita as he jokingly tried to remove his friend's arm from his neck as the other guild members gathered.

"So, we'll be joining ranks with the Divine Dragon Alliance and the Knights of the Blood?" asked Tetsuo hopefully.

"Come on, we should aim higher than that!" answered Keita. "We should start by getting everyone to level thirty."

"You're kidding!" groaned Sachi as the others laughed.

**Music track: **_**Fire Emblem Awakening: "We should turn in for the night."**_

That night, Red, Asuna and the Black Cats of the Full Moon had just arrived to the newly opened twenty-eighth floor. They had just finished supper and were resting at an inn.

"I've got good news for everyone," proclaimed Keita proudly. "Today's hunt netted us two hundred thousand Col!"

"Whoa!" shouted the guild members and Red and Asuna. The amount of money was certainly large.

"We might even be able to buy the house of our dreams pretty soon!" chimed in Tetsuo happily.

"Hey, why don't we upgrade Sachi's equipment?" asked Sasamaru.

"Yeah," agreed Keita.

"It's fine," replied Sachi, shaking her head. "I'll manage with what I have."

"Just do it," said Ducker. "Kirito shouldn't have to aggro the monsters all of the time."

"Sorry."

"I don't mind, so no worries," piped up Kirito cheerfully.

"Thanks, Kirito," said Keita before he turned to Sachi. "Sachi, I know switching builds is tough, but you'll figure it out soon enough. Let's all do our best!"

"Okay," conceded Sachi somewhat gloomily, still feeling unsure of herself.

Kirito could not help but feel concerned and protective of the girl.

Later, everybody was about to go to sleep when Keita noticed that Sachi had gone missing. Everybody searched for her, but in the end, Kirito (who was already out for a late night walk) managed to find her by using the Tracking skill. Sachi was so scared to death of death that she wanted to stay with Kirito, who had comforted her, for the night.

Asuna, who had seen the brief yet touching exchange, wanted to sleep in Red's room only to find that the trainer was already fast asleep when she knocked on the door; she can hear the light snores from behind the door.

**Music track: **_**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Beach Cave**_

"All right, I'm going out for a bit," declared Keita as he walked off one morning in June. He was going to find the Black Cats a new home. "Teleport! Town of Beginnings!"

In a sphere of blue light, Keita disappeared from the town's teleport gate.

"So, we're finally getting our own home?" asked Tetsuo, though his question was more of a statement.

"I've never been so moved!" said Sasamaru cheerfully.

"Quit acting like an old man!" laughed Ducker as he lightly elbowed Sasamaru, drawing laughter from themselves and from the guild members and friends present.

"Hey, let's go farm some Col while Keita's buying the house," suggested Tetsuo once the laughter settled down.

"Oh, are we buying furniture?" asked Sachi hopefully.

"Why don't we go to a labyrinth on one of the higher floors?" suggested Ducker.

"What's wrong with our usual hunting grounds?" asked Kirito.

"We can earn money quicker on a higher floor," replied Sasamaru.

"Our levels should be high enough now," added Ducker.

"We can help you guys out," chimed in Red, with Asuna agreeing. "I wanna stay to see the housewarming party!"

**Music track: **_**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Lower Brine Cave**_

"See, it's a cakewalk!" crowed Ducker as the group walked through a gem-based corridor in the dungeon in the twenty-seventh floor.

"We'll be joining the front liners in no time!" cheered Sasamaru.

"Totally!"

Later, Ducker noticed a glowing inscription on a panel on the wall. He pressed his hand against it, making the inscription glowing, opening the panel to reveal a small room.

"A hidden room?" thought Kirito, who suddenly felt as if something bad will happen soon.

Red, who was already unnerved by the eerie dungeon, suddenly became even more nervous; he tensed up and readied his Galaxia. Asuna saw her partner readying himself for combat so she took out her rapier just in case.

"A treasure chest!" laughed Ducker as said chest sat at the back of the room, unopened. "Oh snap!"

He, Tetsuo and Sasamaru rushed into the room excitedly to inspect the chest for its loot.

"W-wait!" called out Kirito as he, Sachi, Red and Asuna followed after them into the room but it was too late – Ducker had picked the lock and opened the chest, which was found to be empty.

**Music track: **_**Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure: The True Chevaliers**_

Suddenly, the aurora blue room suddenly went red as the alarm siren went off. The door to the room slammed itself shut, panels along the room's walls opened up to reveal mobs of dwarf-like monsters that quickly poured in and tall, thin golems spawned out of thin air into the room. The explorers found themselves surrounded.

"It's a trap!" called out Kirito. "We're getting out of here!"

Ducker immediately fished into his pouch, drew out a blue teleport crystal and held it up to the air.

"Teleport! Taft!" he shouted, desparately hoping that the group can escape. He tried a few more times, only to find that his attempts to teleport were in vain.

"The crystals won't work!" cried out Sachi fearfully, looking at her useless crystal.

"We're in a crystal nullification area!" shouted Kirito as he drew his blade, ready to fight.

Red and Asuna quickly charged off into battle; it was obvious that they will have to fight their way out of the dungeon. Red was especially scared as this was the first time he could not use a teleport crystal to escape.

"Mach Tornado!" called out Red as he held his sword up in front of himself and began to spin. His spinning became so fast that he literally looked like a blurring red and gold tornado. His close combat cyclone attack slammed into a large group of monsters, ripping them to shreds of pixels quickly or severely weakening them.

"My turn!" called out Asuna as she followed after Red and quickly stabbed several monsters out using her rapier right as Red finished his sword skill, finishing off the weakened monsters and damaged unharmed ones.

The Black Cats present slowly picked off the monsters one-by-one and stuck close together, taking a page from Red and Asuna. Kirito went into a frenzy and began to rip each monster apart with his sword skills backed up by sheer ferocity, occasionally stopping only to massacre monsters that were going after Sachi.

Suddenly, Ducker tripped and dropped his teleport crystal and blade, leaving him open to the monsters. Just as the dark dwarves raised their sharp pickaxes, Red quickly jumped into the way and charged up a sword skill.

"Hee-YAAAHHH!" he cried out as he spun himself around with his sword arm outstretched, performing a Spin Attack. The attack did not hit Ducker (as he was lying prostrate on the ground) and did quickly kill off the immediate surrounding monsters. As Ducker got up and readied his blade, Red ran off and quickly held out the Galaxia in front of him and jumped. To the amazement of the group (minus Asuna), he barrel-rolled midair, stabbing lines of monsters apart with his Drill Rush attack.

Once the attack was finished, Red plucked off one of his Pokeballs from his belt and tossed it into the air.

"Venusaur, let's go!" he called out. "Use Vine Whip!"

"Venu!" affirmed the Seed Pokemon, which looked like a bulky turquoise quadruped dinosaur with a large pink flower on its back, as a pair of long tendrils shot out from its flowery plant and began to knock away the goblins and golems close to it right after it materialized. The monsters were either destroyed or were knocked onto the ground, only to be finished off by the players.

"Now, Stun Spore!" added the Pokemon trainer before he turned to his friends. "Be careful not to breathe in that stuff, guys!"

"Saur!" The Grass-Poison Pokemon began to let out a small plume of yellow powder into the air. The spores settled onto the monsters softly. Suddenly, the affected dwarves and golems stumbled, lurched or even fell over.

Kirito looked at the monsters through his in-game heads-up display and noticed an icon consisting of a yellow square with a black lightning bolt on each of their health bars. "They're… they're paralyzed!"

The paralyzed monsters were very trivial to kill and were dispatched very quickly. Eventually, the room was finally empty of monsters, prompting the alarm to silence itself and the entrance (and only exit) to reopen. The room also returned to its normal northern lights-like blue.

Everybody was exhausted and had taken some damage. Red ended up taking the most damage because he landed the most kills (leveling himself and Asuna up and obtaining a lot of loot in the process), left himself open to some attacks after using certain sword skills or commanding Venusaur and ended up taking attacks (when his parries or Dual Guards failed) to prevent any of his friends from dying. Fortunately, his Battle Healing was backed up by his Renewal skill, which prevented his health from falling too low.

"Venusaur, return!" called out Red, holding up his Pokeball. The large Pokemon was recalled in a blob of red light back into its Pokeball, which Red clipped back onto his belt. The trainer then collapsed onto his knees, panting hard.

"Red!" called out Asuna as she rushed over to him, worried for her crush.

"Hah… just… tired…" panted the trainer as he slowly got up, using his Galaxia as a makeshift crutch, shaking a little from fatigue.

Asuna wrapped one of Red's arms around her shoulder so she can help him stand up without collapsing. The group slowly and safely escaped the labyrinth, but not before they bombarded Red with questions about his skills and his Pokemon. Before Red could be harassed with questions any further, Kirito stepped in and confessed about his own actual level. To the black-clad swordsman's surprise, the Black Cats still accepted him; he still saved them and Sachi had already known by accident (she had seen it from behind Kirito when they shared a bed together one night). Red, meanwhile, after a good scolding from Bill and Dr. Akihabara, made it a point to check his pouch to make sure that his crystals and potions were there whenever he set out to dungeons.

The group finally arrived back to the eleventh floor's town's alehouse to find Keita waiting for them.

* * *

Longest... chapter... ever...

Hope you guys have enjoyed it!

In other news, I can't wait to see the upcoming Pokémon anime special, Pokémon: The Origin (based off of Pokémon Red and Green, featuring the characters Red and Green)! [Will be aired in Japan on October 2nd.]

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome as usual!


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